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Baby led water?

Ok so i've thought about how BLS work. The baby usually tells you how much they want by showing interest in the food they eat. So that's what we're doing and my baby LOVES his solids... a little too much! My question is why cant we do baby led water too? We do it for solids... why not water? If the baby wants to, why not? I've refrained him from water bc i'm somewhat scared of my supply dwindling but if he desires water, why should i deny it? He still loves the boob. Daddy is not one to deny or restrict unless i'm around Because of this he's had water since he was 8 months. Not too much, but somehow daddy or grandma sneak in an ounce or less a day grrrr...What do you ladies think?

Re: Baby led water?

I started giving Joe a cup of water (open and sippy) to play with and maybe sip out of when he was seven or eight months. Just like solids, I might have backed off a bit if he started showing a strong preference for water over breastmilk, but we never had that problem (heck, he could hardly get any in his mouth most of the time! but he had fun!). So basically, yes, I did baby-led-water, and it worked great.

Baby-led-soda-pop, now, I wouldn't be a big fan of that!

You can call me JoMo!

Mom to baby boy Joe, born 5/4/09 and breastfed for more than two and a half years, and baby girl Maggie, born 7/9/12.

Re: Baby led water?

when i introduced a sippy cup to the older two girls, i always put water in it. they didn't really drink it, like jomo said, but it was fun for them to play with! and it gave them something else to do while sitting at the table with us for meals.

~Jaden Mae 04-05-06~--Self-weaned at 21 months--~Avery Lynne 11-27-08~--Self-weaned at 23 months--~Elise June 02-12-11~--Nursing like a champ--

Re: Baby led water?

I have two friends who breastfeed and have denied water till their babies turn a year. They believe that's all the liquids they need. I dont know if everyone does/did this.

Just my opinion. Breastmilk is all the liquids babies need (assuming they nurse on demand), but I think it's good to encourage babies to get a "taste" for water early, just because it's a good habit to have.

You can call me JoMo!

Mom to baby boy Joe, born 5/4/09 and breastfed for more than two and a half years, and baby girl Maggie, born 7/9/12.

Re: Baby led water?

the reason that it's recommended to wait on the water is because it fills up your baby's tummy and has zero calories. That's also why it's recommended to nurse first and then offer solids, because solids have considerably less calories/fats/nutrients than breastmilk. Water has zero.

starting off with an ounce or two a day is plenty. By around 9-10 months you can increase that. I think around a year - 14 months we were at unlimited water between meals. But we were still nursing 10 times a day so I wasn't concerned with calories.

~Jenn~

mother of 2 boys!08/14/98~~03/20/08Birth: 7lbs 12oz, 1 year: 22lbs 11oz until he self-weaned 4 days before his third birthday ... still on occasion ... and happily ************************************************** ************************************************** *****************People need to understand that when they're deciding between breastmilk and formula, they're not deciding between Coke and Pepsi.... They're choosing between a live, pure substance and a dead substance made with the cheapest oils available. ~Chele Marmet

Re: Baby led water?

That was never an issue for us, because frankly, Joe didn't really learn to drink water until he was about one! But we let him play with a sippy cup, make a mess, and take sips from open cups earlier than that.

You can call me JoMo!

Mom to baby boy Joe, born 5/4/09 and breastfed for more than two and a half years, and baby girl Maggie, born 7/9/12.